Job Title : Director of information management

Organization : Network Rail

Catherine Doran joined Network Rail in the summer of 2006 and is responsible for an IT budget of almost £140m to support the tech needs of the organisation’s 17,500 end users across 460 locations throughout the company.

Among Doran’s key priorities are defining the strategic IT direction of Network Rail and delivering the infrastructure and applications that support mission-critical engineering and rail operations. The IT challenge at Network Rail isn’t made any easier by the ageing legacy IT systems the organisation inherited from British Rail and Railtrack.

On her appointment Network Rail’s deputy CEO Iain Coucher said: “IT is a fast-moving industry and I am delighted we have attracted someone of Catherine’s calibre to lead us in this crucial area.”

Doran moved into a career in technology after initially studying maths and geography at university in Ireland and she has played a lead role in improving the performance of major organisations through IT transformation programmes.

Doran’s previous roles include director of transformation and technology at BT, European CIO at Capital One and head of retail information systems at NatWest.